


A safe return home

by Lilypipo



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Gen, Post-Episode: s08e03 The Long Night, Season/Series 08 Spoilers, Winterfell, Women Being Awesome, Women In Power
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 16:09:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18694855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilypipo/pseuds/Lilypipo
Summary: Sansa exits the crypt after the Battle of Winterfell. She's scared what she will find. Is her family alright?





	A safe return home

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for Game of Thrones, season 8 episode 3: The Long Night. Ye be warned! 
> 
> I do not own Game of Thrones, ASoIaF, or any related properties. No profit is being made of this story. No beta, so any mistakes are mine.

Sansa looked down at her trembling hands. The obsidian dagger was still clutched in her hands, her knuckles hurting from the strain of holding it so tight. 

She was surprised to still be alive. She, together with Tyrion, had stepped out of their hiding spot to defend their people in the crypt. Then, suddenly the dead dropped like flies. She had been ready to die defending her home, but something happened that had saved her. Them all, really. What? Or, perhaps a better question, who? Because that was the only reason Sansa could think of to explain all this - someone had killed the Night King.

Above them, all was quiet. She suddenly burned with the desire to know. Who was still alive? Who had saved them? Jon? The Dragon Queen? Bran? "Open the door," she commanded.

Two nearby women hastened to obey her. Tyrion and Missandei appeared at her side. Even though she had been having words with the Naathanian, and ready to die side by side with her ex-husband, she was equally glad to have both of them at her side when she stepped out of the crypt. 

At the top of the stairs she dropped her knife in shock. Piles and piles of bodies littered the courtyard, only a few staggering survivors in between, all looking worse for the wear. Sansa's heart leaped when she spotted Podrick looking at Brienne, but the large warrior only had eyes for Jaime Lannister. 

Where was her family? "Jon? Bran? Arya?" She called out softly, not wanting to disturb the mourning, but desperate to know who she had lost herself. Beside her, she could hear Missandei calling out for Daenerys and Grey Worm, and Tyrion for his brother. She saw several surviving guardsmen bow to her, but couldn’t manage more than a shallow nod back. Concern for her loved ones overruled everything.

She suddenly spotted Jon sagging against a crumbled wall, near the remains of a dragon. He looked terrible, but alive. She sighed in relief and sent a silent thanks to the gods. 

Then she took a closer look at the dead beast at Jon's feet. By the looks of it, Sansa thought this must have been Viserion, the dragon turned by the Night King. Despite her dislike for the Dragon Queen, Sansa hoped the other two dragons had survived. She had seen enough of the battle to know that as long as Daenerys was on their side, dragons were useful weapons. (However, the possibility of them being used to burn the North after Cersei was defeated was still a risk Sansa had to contemplate. Calculate. See in her mind as if it were happening, so she could prevent it. She shook her head - this was not the time for lessons from dead men. She had to take care of the living.)

She called for the attention of her half-brother. "Jon, have you seen Arya or Bran?"

"Sansa!" A smile spread on his face when he spotted her. (At least he hadn't totally gone over to the Dragon Queen's side. Never trust anyone but your family - yet it was also not the time for lessons from enemy queens.) Jon continued speaking. "Bran's probably still in the Godswood." _If he was still alive_ , Sansa could hear him not say. 

She nodded, "Let's go." Jon looked torn between looking for his family or for his Queen but followed her nonetheless.

Sansa passed the gate and passed by, to her sorrow, the corpse of Lyanna Mormont. The feisty little Lady-warrior had never been her friend, but she had been a valuable ally and counsellor. A true Northern woman. Sansa bowed her head in mourning and respect, before moving on to the Godswood. 

Before she could enter it though, she spotted another loss. Amidst the bodies of his foes, the body of Theon Greyjoy lay, a spear sticking out of his body. Now, a great sadness filled her chest and she stood still - Theon had become her friend… She was now all alone in remembering the horrors she had lived through at Ramsay's hands - a heavy burden to bear alone.

However, as Sansa was taking a moment, Jon continued to move. She heard him shout, "Bran!" in a joyous tone, so that must mean the boy-turned-Three-Eyed-Raven was alive. Sansa hurried to the Heart Tree. 

She spotted Bran sitting in his wheelchair. From the snow gathered on the wheels, it was clear he hadn’t moved for a while. Jon stood beside him, looking still battle-high and checking for dangers. Sansa trusted he would not see her as one. She ran to Bran and - despite knowing this wasn’t her Bran anymore, despite it being unladylike - gave him a hug. “I’m so glad you’re alive. Are you hurt?” 

He looked at her with the same blank yet piercing stare he always had nowadays. “I am fine. Theon saved me.”

Sansa smiled sadly. “Then may he be well received by the Drowned God.” She looked around. “Where is Arya? What happened to the Night King?”

Here Bran hesitated. “Arya… She stabbed the Night King with the Valerian blade I gifted her. He died instantly.” 

Sansa felt her knees go weak and she collapsed to the floor. No… Her little, bratty, brave sister had saved them all? Not that she didn't see the scarily enormous progress Arya had made since her dancing lessons with Syrio Forel, but there was a large difference between sparring with Brienne and killing the one enemy hellbent on destroying them all. 

Had her mother's youngest daughter really put herself in danger like that? Sansa knew that Arya had stood on the battlements during the fight, but she had assumed Brienne would keep an eye on her. And even if she'd been in the crypt, that hadn't turned out to be safe. But this…

"-ansa? Sansa, can you hear me?" Sansa blinked and looked up at Jon's worried face, kneeling beside her. He smiled without joy, "You left us there for a minute. You okay?"

"Yes. Yes, of course." Sansa looked up at Bran, begging him for information. "Where is Arya?"

"I'm here." Arya's voice sounded from somewhere behind Sansa. She got up and turned, running - half stumbling - towards the last of her family. She pulled Arya into a fierce hug. 

"You're alright!" She looked critically down at her sister. Except a nasty cut above her brow and perhaps some redness of her neck, there weren't immediate injuries Sansa could see. So she moved on to her mental well-being. "Bran said… you killed the Night King?"

Arya's nod was solemn, but her eyes sparkled as she smiled and for the first time that night, visibly relaxed. "I stuck him with the pointy end."

Sansa smiled for the first time, too. "Father and mother would be proud. As am I." Her family had somehow, miraculously, survived the night . There was much to do, dead to mourn. But all Sansa cared about now was Arya taking her close, pulling their remaining family and enveloping them in a great hug, all four of them. 

Sansa felt a peace come over her by this warm welcome, resting in the comforting arms of a safe home.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little short piece appreciating the love between the Stark family, especially the Stark sisters. Hope you liked it. Please leave a comment, it would be so welcome!


End file.
